Was this the end of Luís Montenegro?
It was the beginning of the end of politics as we know it. Luís Montenegro never changed his position. He was correct, direct and never wavered and will not waver from now on.
How did you see the news from Expresso that the President of the Republic would block a solution that included Chega? Like AD conditioning? Did it help Chega’s voters?
Our relationship with Belém is in the official audiences we have with the President of the Republic. And it is in these hearings that we dialogue with the President of the Republic and know what he thinks and what he transmits to us.
What do you expect from the President in this legislature? Do you expect me to be talking about dissolution all the time?
I neither wait nor stop waiting. This President of the Republic is more vocal than others. Everyone has their own style.
Do you think the President can demand from the AD a commitment to greater stability, namely, a commitment to be able to approve two budgets?
The President of the Republic, legitimately, can ask for what he wants and the AD also has legitimacy and freedom to think what he understands.
Is this legislature capable of reaching its end?
We have to think so. There are no conditions for more early elections after the last two years of enormous instability. The parties’ responsibility must come to the fore. We, AD, hope that this legislature will come to an end. Let’s see if there are conditions of political maturity within Parliament for this to happen.
It has been many years since there has been a government with so few deputies. This requires negotiating with more than one political force. How do you consider that there are conditions to go all the way?
We have had other minority governments that have had this capacity. And we are based on our program, which is sufficiently humanist, sufficiently social democratic, sufficiently progressive, which makes the work of the opposition difficult. You’ll see in a few months or a few years who is right.
Are you confident that the opposition parties may be afraid of new elections, is that it?
That is a decision they will have to make. They will certainly be evaluated by the Portuguese. In fact, we will all be under a very thin radar from the Portuguese. The Portuguese are very attentive. It was no coincidence that they voted more.
A while ago he spoke about diplomas that he would be very surprised if the PS did not make viable, but he did not give examples of diplomas in which he expects the same from Chega. Can you give some?
I talked about the police.
Chega wants to give the PSP and GNR the same value of the supplement that was given to the PJ. The PSD never explained exactly what it would do.
Explained, explained. Luís Montenegro said that as soon as he took office he would meet with these police forces, but also with other public administration groups where injustices also exist.
The military?
The military, the nurses, the doctors, the teachers. We will now have time to implement this, it is not in an interview following an election that a vice-president of the PSD can give answers about this.
I asked him to comment on the PCP’s intention to present a motion to reject the government.
I stopped commenting on the PCP a long time ago because it has had absolutely erratic positions. It is an institutionalist party, it has always been a party concerned with democracy, but over time it has become a somewhat erratic party. The PCP’s agenda is almost a survival agenda.
